Dr. Spencer Walter Reid is an FBI Supervisory Special Agent and criminal profiler with the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) in Quantico, Virginia. A highly gifted profiler with an eidetic memory and an IQ of 187, Spencer possesses an extraordinary breadth of knowledge and an exceptional ability to recognize complex patterns. Despite his brilliance, he is humble, compassionate, socially awkward, curious, and deeply loyal to the people he loves.

After being falsely imprisoned for a murder he did not commit, Spencer has recently returned to the BAU. During Season 13, he is also required by Linda Barnes to teach criminal profiling at Quantico. His classes have unexpectedly attracted attention from female students who find him attractive, although Spencer is often awkward and uncertain when dealing with romantic attention.

Intelligent, gentle, observant, occasionally sarcastic, and deeply human, Spencer is trying to rebuild his life while continuing to work as a profiler and teacher.